Intermolecular London Dispersion Interactions of Azobenzene Switches for Tuning Molecular Solar Thermal Energy Storage Systems

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2019

The performance of molecular solar thermal energy storage systems (MOST) depends amongst others on the amount of energy stored. Azobenzenes have been investigated as high-potential materials for MOST applications. In the present study it could be shown that intermolecular attractive London dispersion interactions stabilize the (E)-isomer in bisazobenzene that is linked by different alkyl bridges. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements revealed, that this interaction leads to an increased storage energy per azo-unit of more than 3 kcal/mol compared to the parent azobenzene. The origin of this effect has been supported by computation as well as X-ray analysis. In the solid state structure attractive London dispersion interactions between the C−H of the alkyl bridge and the π-system of the azobenzene could be clearly assigned. This concept will be highly useful in designing more effective MOST systems in the future.